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The F/ratio Conjecture "high f/ratio refractors require less frequent focus adjustment than low f/ratio refractors" Why would a refractor with a high focal ratio require less frequent focus correction than a low focal ratio refractor?

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture UNITRON 4-inch F/15 NIKON 4-INCH F/10 ED APO TAKAHASHI 4-inch F/5 FSQ-106 TAKAHASHI 4-inch F/5 FSQ-106  According to the F/Ratio Conjecture, images observed in the F/15 Unitron are more “stable”;  and require less frequent refocussing than the same images, seen at the same time, and in the same seeing conditions as;  the Nikon F/10 or Takahashi F/5 Apo’s. Is this true? If so, why?

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture  The conjecture, "high f/ratio refractors require less frequent focus adjustment than low f/ratio refractors," implies there is some hitherto unrecognised property inherent to the long focal length refractor. To investigate possible causes, the following factors will be considered:  1 SEEING ･ focus shift in relation to RMS defocus ･ depth-of-focus & wavefront tolerance  2 THERMAL CHANGES to FOCUS ACCLIMATION ･ change of OG focal length with temperature ･ change of tube length with temperature  3 VISUAL ACCOMMODATION AMPLITUDE ･ focus accommodation and depth-of-focus  4 MAGNIFICATION & SEEING ･ relative power per unit aperture  There are numerous reasons why observers adjust focus, some due to the effects of astronomical seeing, others due to properties of the telescope. Why would a refractor with a high focal ratio require less frequent focus correction than a low focal ratio refractor?

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture the wavefront retardation: which produces a focus shift for a given aperture is I derived an elegant geometric proof that aWavefront phase shift produces a focus shift in any telescope, regardless of aperture or f/ratio Those interested in the proof can read it on my website

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture  The upshot is that only unobstructed telescopes or telescopes with small central obstructions can accommodate seeing induced focus shift. This fact, in my opinion, is why observers notice that reflectors and telescopes with Rayleigh criterion optics require constant refocussing. The mistake they make is in attributing it to focal ratio per s é �. It has nothing to do with focal ratio, and everything to do with Strehl Ratio.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture THERMAL CHANGES to FOCUS  Let us assume that two refractors having the same aperture but one having twice the focal length of the other, are sat side by side, in the same decreasing temperature, and that both are hotter than ambient, and need to acclimate.  Whereas the tube lengths have the ratio 2:1, the depth of focii will have the ratio 4:1.  It is therefore reasonable to assume the high f/ratio refractor would have twice the thermal defocus leeway, and therefore require less focal adjustment during acclimation.  When the focal ratios are in the proportion 3:1, one would expect the thermal defocus leeway would also be 3:1 and so on, or directly proportional to the ratio of the f/ratios.  The focal length of a lens changes as the temperature changes because of changes to surface radii and thickness and changes in the index of refraction and Abb � é index.  All glass lenses increase in focal length with decreasing temperature.  Wide air-spaced OG's are sometimes housed in a temperature compensating cell, that maintains centricity and element spacing and provides space for expansion of the glass.  Even so, the focal length will change.  Metal tubes contract during acclimation as the temperature decreases.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture  During acclimation, an f/14 achromat, compared to an f/7 apochromat would require ~43% less frequent focus correction over an 80% longer cool down time, over a focal shift 3 times greater.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture Note from the graphs of TEC140APO defocus & f/14 ACHRO defocus the apo has roughly three times more leeway within its far tighter depth of focus.

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COMPARING CTD-CTE; DA - (CTD-CTE); DOF - (CTD-CTE) I now want to consider a direct comparison for a 6-inch Fraunh ö fer achromatic doublet of different focal ratio across the range assuming the tubes are made of duralamin alloy, and have an effective length equal to the OG focal length, and defocus aberration 1/8, and depth of focus ±1/8.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture although depth of focus varies as the square of the focal ratio, the constants DA; CTD; CTE; are so small compared to N & D, that the ratio DoF - (CTD-CTE) : DA - (CTD-CTE) is practically linear.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture Putting ratio: from numerical analysis:  a counter intuitive result bearing in mind that depth of focus varies as the square of the focal ratio.  What this result means is that during acclimation a high f/ratio achromatic doublet has greater thermal defocus leeway.  Note that the slope and intercept will vary with D, and that the rule-of- thumb only applies when D = 6-inches.  Which of course begs the question, how does the rule-of-thumb change with D?  I ran an Appleworks spreadsheet analysis to investigate how the ratio varied with aperture between 2≤D≤8 inches and 5≤N≤18.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture

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 Note the slope becomes shallower with increasing aperture, which means the thermal defocus leeway for any particular focal ratio decreases with increasing aperture.  Thermal defocus leeway is not constant for any particular focal ratio, another counter- intuitive outcome of my analysis.  From this table of results it can be seen that although the slope varies with aperture the intercept is almost 1. The variation of slope with aperture follows a power law, which since the DoF is a function of the square of the focal ratio, is to be expected. The power law derived from regression analysis is: & since focal ratio: in other words, for a particular focal length, an achromatic doublet's thermal defocus leeway is an inverse function of the square of the aperture.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture Similarly for a hypothetical 1/16 wave ED contact triplet:

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture  This is a far cry from the initial assumption that if two achromatic refractors are compared, both having the same OG type and aperture, the thermal defocus leeway would be expected to be proportional to the ratio of the f/ratios, regardless of aperture (DoF ratio divided by CTE ratio).  The reason this is not the case is because it ignores the thermal defocus of the OG, which has a significant bearing on total thermal defocus.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture  Opting for a carbon fibre composite tube halves thermal defocus, the CTD - CTE value halves, having a marginal effect on total defocus during acclimation.  But carbon fibre takes much longer to acclimate, which is why some manufacturers fit fans into the OTA.  Forced cooling causes turbulence that disrupts the image during acclimation.  Instead of contributing to more stable image, carbon fibre makes the image less stable during a very protracted cool down time.  Far from being a plus point, a carbon fibre tube refractor is a big "no-no". CARBON FIBRE TUBE REFRACTORS

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture  The focus adjustment rates appear to be at least an order of magnitude too slow for the apo & equivalent Littrow doublet.  For the Vixen 4-inch f/10 & Skylight 4-inch f/15 the adjustment rates are equivocal.  From what I ’ ve noticed observers using refractors adjust the focus several times a minute in average seeing (Antoniadi III), and a few times each minute in good seeing (Antoniadi II).  Experienced observers, I have noticed, seldom establish focus from one direction, but by first setting the eyepiece inside, then outside the limit of the focal range, and then finally focus trying to leave the setting at the midpoint of the range. Most do this automatically, without thinking about it.  Telescopes figured only to the Rayleigh criterion have such a poorly defined focus that focus twiddling is almost mandatory.  From personal experience focus adjustments are made habitually, not simply because the image is seen to be going in and out of focus, and thermal defocus during acclimation has little to do with the habit, which is witnessed throughout a session, not just during the acclimation period. Do the combined effects of CTD & CTE that produce thermal defocus explain the conjecture?

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture RACKMOUNT  TEC140APO _ FEATHERTOUCH3545 ± 1/4 turn of pinion within DoF  TRADITIONAL ACHROMATIC _ only 2º turn of pinion within DoF  Focussing a traditional high f/ratio refractor is a far more awkward task than focussing a modern low f/ratio apochromatic refractor.  Could this fact have any bearing on the conjecture? Possibly, but given the wide variation in traditional doublet focal ratios, say f/12 thru' f/20, and the wide variation in rack & pinion rack ratios, one would expect a variation in experience amongst their users.  One would also expect apo users to comment on the opposite effect implicit in the conjecture. This not being the case, the possible cause must lie elsewhere.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture FOCUS ACCOMMODATION  Visual accommodation enables the observer to keep the image in focus when it shifts from the nominal focal plane of the objective for an object at ∞.  A lens with a power of 1 dioptre has a focal length of 1m. The mean amplitude of visual accommodation varies with age, from ~14D at age 8 years to ≤ 0.5D at age 70 years.  An adult Caucassian in his or her teens has a wide accommodation amplitude of ~10 dioptres, so the near point lies at 100mm.  Accommodation matches the Conrady 2.2D  Accommodation amplitude is less than Conrady DoF when A≤2D, and more than DoF when A≥2D.  Notice however that the ratio does not vary signiicantly with focal ratio for accommodation A<4D.  Youthful observers with accommodation A≥10D have a focus accommodation `5 times DoF, but there is little variance between f/4 & f/20 (4.7 to 5.7)  Where seeing induced focus shift equals DoF, observers older than 55 years will perceive the image to go out of focus whereas a youthful observer will be able to accommodate the defocus.

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture FOCUS ACCOMMODATION

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The highest useful magnification for refracting telescopes was derived by the double star observer Lewis in 1914: THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture MAGNIFICATION & SEEING From which the lowest focal ratio for a given eyepiece focal length corresponding to the highest useable magnification is:  What lies behind Lewis' highest useful magnification rule is visual acuity and the contrast sensitivity function (CSF).  Highest VA occurs at ~8 cycles / degree which corresponds to x48.75 / inch.  The cut-off CSF lies at ~5%.  Frequency cut-off point lies ~60 cycles / degree.  The limit of a 1/4 wave OG lies ~ 90 cycles / degree, which can only be exploited by increasing the relative power by roughly a third which corresponds to ~ x65 / inch, beyond which no additional detail may be resolved.

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RAYLEIGH CRITERION FOR CHROMATIC CORRECTION THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture MAGNIFICATION & SEEING  There is a rule-of-thumb derived by Conrady in the mid 1920’s  For 1/4 wave chromatic correction the focal ratio of a crown-flint achromatic doublet must be: From:  Similar rules-of-thumb can be similarly derived for other types of object glass ED DOUBLETED TRIPLETFLUORITE TRIPLETED QUADRUPLET

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture

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 Compare a 5.5-inch f/7 ED triplet and a 5.5-inch f/14 achromatic doublet.  Relative powers are x58/inch & x65/inch respectively.  The ED triplet will provide the more stable image, marginally.  Now compare a 5.5-inch f/10 doublet and a 5.5-inch f/20 doublet.  Relative powers are x77/inch & x54/inch, in inverse proportion to the second power of their focal ratios.  The f/20 doublet will provide the more stable image.  Herein lies the nub of an explanation for the conjecture, supporting the experience of refractor users.  Where a comparison is made between the same aperture and type of refractor the highest useful relative magnification is inversely proportional to the second power of the focal ratio.  When comparing: Achromatic doublet, ED doublet; ED triplet, Fluorite triplet; ED quadruplet; ED Petzval doublet;  the relationship is in the proportion √3:√2:√1.2:√0.75:√0.6:√1.9  & inversely as the second power of their respective focal ratios. MAGNIFICATION & SEEING

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture  1SEEING Seeing induced defocus is dependent only on Strehl ratio. Telescopes with SR ~ 1 have greatest defocus accommodation. Rayeligh Criterion optics SR ~0.8 have no defocus accommodation.  2THERMAL DEFOCUS Occurs on too slow a time-scale to have significant bearing on conjecture. Has no bearing on “ image stability ” which is a function of seeing & magnification.  3VISUAL ACCOMMODATION AMPLITUDE Has marked impact on perception of seeing induced defocus. Variation with focal ratio too slight to support conjecture.  4MAGNIFICATION & SEEING Highest useful power aperture, not f/ratio dependent. For refractors with chromatic correction obeying or exceeding the Rayleigh criterion: relative power, hence relative image stability, is focal ratio dependent. RESULT of EVALUATION

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THE LONG & the SHORT F/# Investigating the F/ratio Conjecture Classic Pentax 4-inch F15  So lets see who was paying attention:  Which ‘scope will present the more stable image?  And why?  So lets see who was paying attention:  Which ‘scope will present the more stable image?  And why? Takahashi FS102 4-inch F8 APO Vixen 4-inch F8 Quad APO